Latest news with #ex-Uber
News18
5 days ago
- Business
- News18
Dubai Investors Reject European Startup's $8 Million Pitch For This Reason
Last Updated: A European founder's business pitch faltered after he obsessed over numbers above values in front of Dubai investors, as detailed in a viral LinkedIn post. A European founder's business pitch failed badly in Dubai after he walked into one of the Gulf's most underestimated investor traps. In a viral post, Obediah Ayton, of Dhabi Hold Co, shared the interesting experience of a European founder who had a budget of $8 million, a slick pitch deck, VC backing from Berlin, as well as a team full of ex-Uber, ex-Spotify talents, but couldn't get a cheque out of investors. His mistake? Speaking venture in a room that valued legacy. While the founder boasted of credibility and wealth of experience, what he lacked was an understanding of the individuals he was talking to. 'From the first few minutes of the meeting, it was clear: He was speaking venture. They were listening for value," Ayton wrote. Across the table sat a family office with deep regional roots. Their legacy portfolio included a retail chain struggling with online conversions, the exact problem his tech could solve." 'But instead of starting with the pain point, the founder led with his cap table. He quoted market share stats and global benchmarks. He forecasted valuation jumps, not operational gains. He praised his board's pedigree, but never asked about the family's business. So they nodded politely. Sipped their coffee. And passed. He walked out thinking it was a miss on their side." The Story Highlights UAE's Rooted Business Culture Ayton underlined something important about the UAE's business culture, where family offices don't invest in startups but in values. The thinking is more long-term, with attention on bloodlines, not burn rates. Also, there is a disregard for founders who obsess over ARR if there is little effort to understand what kept their empire standing for 60 years. 'What he (European founder) missed was their language: Turning $1 into $2, not burning through 10 to make noise. Protecting family names, not flipping shares. Helping a 60-year-old business stay relevant, not pitching a six-year exit. To them, it wasn't a 'no" to tech. It was a 'no" to ego. Here are 11 Family Holdings in Dubai that are quiet, but you must not overlook. They don't post deal selfies," the LinkedIn user said. Ayton enlisted 11 of these Dubai power players, including Sharaf Group, Albwardy Investments, MOBH Holding Group and others that won't show up on pitch decks but seek alignment, humility, and long-term impact from their business partners. 'The best meetings with UAE family offices feel less like investor pitches and more like family dinners," Ayton wrote. view comments First Published: August 06, 2025, 12:38 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Business Insider
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Check out the exclusive 18-slide pitch deck an ex-Uber leader used to raise $10 million to build AI for hospital-at-home tech
More hospitals want to bring care into the home, but many are missing the technology to support that shift. Axle Health is building AI that can help. Before launching Axle Health, CEO Adam Stansell helped launch Uber Eats in the northeastern US, coordinating food-delivery logistics in the new market. He later joined Motive, a logistics software company for trucking fleets. In 2020, when hospitals were scrambling to enable hospital-at-home care during the pandemic, Stansell, his cofounder Connor Hailey, and some of Stansell's former Uber colleagues set out to create the same intelligence infrastructure for healthcare that the gig economy had built for itself. Now, Axle Health has raised a $10 million Series A led by F-Prime Capital, Business Insider has learned exclusively. Y Combinator, Pear VC, and Lightbank also participated in the round. Axle's software uses AI to handle some of the hardest problems in home healthcare: scheduling, routing, and patient engagement. Its logistics engine can coordinate care based on clinical eligibility, patient preferences, clinician license levels, and even cost, all in real time. Its customers now include large health systems, independent home health agencies, mobile phlebotomy providers, and high-acuity dispatch services. Axle Health originally set out to be a home health provider, powered by its proprietary technology. The company joined Y Combinator's Winter 2021 cohort and quickly scaled to operate in all 50 states, growing to a couple of million dollars in revenue, Stansell said. But in 2023, the startup pivoted to focus on building and licensing its technology for other hospital-at-home providers. "We realized it's better for us — and better for the industry — if instead of keeping the technology for ourselves, we built tools to empower every home health provider," Stansell said. Axle Health announced it had raised $4.4 million in funding in February 2024, which Stansell said included seed funding from 2021 and additional funding Axle raised after the business pivoted. In the past year, Stansell said Axle Health has grown its revenue tenfold. The home health market is growing fast, accelerated by an aging population, clinician shortages, and rising consumer demand for in-home care. Other startups are racing to meet that demand, including by forging ahead with the tech-enabled services model that Axle shelved, like Sprinter Health, which recently landed a $55 million Series B led by General Catalyst to provide at-home preventive care. Later-stage players, acute-care home health provider DispatchHealth and home care tech company Medically Home, merged in March. Axle wants to differentiate itself both by plugging its tech into the existing home health ecosystem and by building technology that clinicians actually want to use, said Stansell. Axle's AI generates logistics plans that clinicians trust, which is an especially difficult bar to clear. And Axle's team, Stansell said, with its several ex-Uber leads, is a key ingredient in the startup's secret sauce. Next up, Axle plans to improve its patient engagement capabilities, including rolling out AI-powered voice call features for patients. It's also expanding its integrations with electronic medical record systems and forming more direct connections with other companies contributing to home health operations, like medical equipment suppliers and pharmacies. "You're not going to have one provider that's going to solve the whole thing," Stansell said. "You need an ecosystem." Here's the 18-slide pitch deck Axle Health used to raise its $10 million Series A. Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Health Axle Healt Axle Health Axle Health
